The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-08-23
ARL1NGToNs QUEER TOWER.
Its Builder Expected to Go to Heaven
but Went to Orange.
From the Ne,o York Evening sun.


From the Neso York Evening Sun.
In the pretty village of Arlington, Hud-
son county, N. j., there is peculiar high
tower standing on the highest knoll in that
elevated part of the State. The structure
Is of brick, over 80 feet high, and is built in
tubular form. Its breadth at the base is
IL feet, but toward the top the tower is Ia
pered. This odd ediflce has been for more
than a quarter of century mystery to the
thousands who have seen it, whether on a
near or far view. Residents of the village
as well as visitors We're equally at loss to di-
vine the purpose for which it had been
erected 1t was long held that the queer
tower had been the observatory of some
ascetic astronomer. Others maintained that
during the late war it was utilized for the
purpose of beacon light, but that seems
uncertain. Until very lately the people liv-
ing in the village concluded that the tower
had been intended for water purposes, but
some thought that it was originally large
chimney.
Yesterday a reporter made his way
through broad tracts of woodland and
acres of small brushwood from the PasSaic
river road up the steep declivity and finally
set his admiring eyes on the picturesque
tower and its immediate surroundings At
first sight it suggests resemblance to the
numerous round towers fonnd in Ireland,
but unlike the ancient Irish structures, the
Arlington tower lacks the conical stone
roof, and it is constructed of brick instead
of stone However, the building has the
same loop-holes and high doorway of the
Irish towers The lower half of the tower
| Is Obscured by dense growth of tall ever
green trees, but the upper portion of the
building can be easily seen many miles
away, owing to its altitude. Ascending the
| huge stone steps which jut out at the base,
the visitor enters the tower through the
heavy wooden door. Opposite the entrance
| is the foot of the spiral stairway by which
| the former habitues of the place reached
the top of the tower. The interior has
no protection from the stormy weather, and
consequently the frail stairway has been
rendered very dangerous With caution a
| person of light weight can easily ascend
to the top. There is built out from the brick
work on the summit platform resembling
low box, without roof or other shelter.
Looking below him the visitor finds him
| self amid the remains of a once magnificent
estate. Just west of the tower stands the
handsome old mansion, now untenanted and
| desolate; broad grassy swards once trim
| lawns; pretty serpentine walks, trimmed
with box, and countless tasteful ornamental
shrubs and trees, now overgrown and nearly
hidden by weeds; numerous broken pieces
of statuary, yellow and moss covered, be
sides several driedup fish ponds, where hun
| dreds of goldfish once disported in the limpid
water, and the long neglected lighthouses and
| the capaciOuS barns. And the ruin Is TO be
| permitted to grow worse. But the specta-
tor becomes wearied by the sight of this
| lamentable decadence, and he turns his at
| tention' to more cheerful prospect. To the
east there stretches out before him a view
unequalled by any in New Jersey. New
| York city, Hoboken, Jersey City, the i'm
mense Statue of Liberty, even Long Island
and the Sound can be seen distinctly. Look
ing westward the panorama is just as en-
trancing, and the view obtained of New
ark, with adjacent towns, Belleville Mont
clair, the Oranges, and the beautiful noun
tains beyond, leave an impression on the be-
| holder not soon to be forgotten.
Llewellyn Haskell, the founder of the ele-
| CANT and Incompatible Llewellyn Park al
| Orange, was the builder of the singular
| tower, and at one time owned the whole of
the extensive estate. An old resident OF
| the locality tells of the time when the build.
| ing of the town was begun. "That was in
| 1S43," said he, ''and ! was young man at
that time. With everybody else wondered
why he was building the tower, and when
we considered Mr.. Haskells fine taste and
his ample MEANS we inferred that the build
| ing was for astronomical USE As a good
and shrewd business man Mr.. Haskell
was much esteemed, but he was
| odd and fanatical in religion
Usually of a retiring disposition, he became
uncommonly communicative after the com.
| pletion of his tower, and he urged the peo-
| pie of the place to become Immediately ad-
herents of Miller, whose widely published
notions concerning the nearness of the day
| of judgment influenced such a number OF
| susceptible persons about the year 1916
| Haskell was an ardent Millerite, hence his
| frequent exhortations. He told inquirers
that the tower was built to reach heaven
and that it surmounted every object
around. Or the day designated for the end
of the earth, he assembled with his family tc
the summit of the structure and they sat
there, arrayed in immaculate white gar.
ments, until midnight, ready for the call
But the day of judgment came not, and the
party descended, taking the disappointment
| quite resignedly. Two of Haskell's children
died soon after, some people saying that the
deaths were a result of a severe cold caught
by the children while seated in their himsy
attire on the evening of the presaged
last day. Every evening after the death OF
| her children the disconsolate mother would
| go to the top of the tower i'll order to com.
mune with the spirits of her dead children
| After the ridiculous teachings of Miller had
| become obsolete and their influence had
been wholly abated, Haskell then became
| an enthusiast in Spiitualism and seances
were regularly held in the old mansion. Al
| last he abandoned his home in Arlington and
went to Orange. No tenant could be gotten
| for the vacant mansion, and the elements
| have since made sad havoc of the entire
| place"